Halftime: Why everyone loves the Saints

As the Super Bowl approaches there's near-unanimous national agreement that no one outside of Indiana will be terribly upset by a Saints victory. The guys who wear the fleur-de-lis represent a city we all feel for, and besides, even the most ardent Colts fan would watch what New Orleans decides to put on as a victory parade.

But the compassion for Katrina's victims has obscured the original reasons for why the Saints have so many sympathizers. They were, quite simply, comically awful for so long that they won a permanent place in many hearts, not unlike the 1962 Mets.

Here's a quick hit on some of the best laughs the Saints provided, culled from a column by Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

-- The Saints trade their first draft pick, the No. 1 overall selection, to Baltimore for QB Gary Cuozzo. The Colts drafted Bubba Smith, who went on to the Hall of Fame and some of the best Miller Lite commercials. Cuozzo lasted all of 13 games.

-- When Tampa Bay's expansion team lost its first 26 games who did the Bucs finally beat? New Orleans, and Saints coach Hank Stram burned the game film.

-- Anyone who's been on Bourbon Street knows about the "Show us your ----" chant. When oft operated-on quarterback Ken Stabler shouted it to a female Saints fan she yelled back, "Show us your knees!"

-- The scouting department's early problems are best demonstrated by the fact Danny Abramowicz was the first Saints Pro Bowler. He was a 17th-round pick, and coach Tom Fears had tried to cut him but was talked out of it.

-- In 1979 Saints kicker Garo Yepremian received standing ovations when he entered restaurants and was told to fill up for free at gas stations. Why? "The Saints went 8-8 that year," Yepremian said. "It was the first time they'd ever reached .500 . . . Only with the Saints did it make you a hero."

-- Archie Manning, pummeled while he was New Orleans' quarterback, felt he would have been the perfect person to serve as the Hall of Fame presenter for Rams defensvie end Jack Youngblood. Said Manning: "He wouldn't have gotten in without having me to sack."

Here are some more lunchtime topics to munch on:

. . . The Portland Trail Blazers are upset with the security crew at Mavericks game, because two women came out of crowd and just walked into their huddle in Dallas. My guess is that, after seeing those nude photos that are floating around the Internet, they were just looking for Greg Oden.

. . . Herschel Walker has responded to Jose Canseco's challenge for an MMA bout with a promise that he will cause great bodily harm if it happens. And I'm guessing all the front-row seats could quickly be sold to all those guys Canseco exposed in Juiced.

. . . Coach YoYo, aka Urban Meyer, is doing his see-ya thing again, saying Steve Addazio will be the Gators' interim coach "for awhile." We hear Meyer will be spending his time recruiting the one player who best understands such ins and outs, Brett Favre.

. . . Good line from Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz, on seeing former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis working the Super Bowl beat for the Ochocinco News Network: "I want to see a Colt refuse to do an interview with him."

. . . David Whitley at Fan House makes an interesting case that the best longshot bet for the Super Bowl is Saints punter Thomas Morstead for MVP.

. . . Speaking of good bets, I'll take Louisville no matter what the point spread is if it faces West Virginia in the Big East tournament. That's when they the Cardinals could dish out payback for Tuesday's game at Morgantown, where fans repeatedly chanted the name of that woman that had restaurant sex with Rick Pitino.

. . . If even half of college football's signing-day hoopla were true, it would mean no team is going to lose more than two games next season.

. . . Just a reminder that Super Bowl Sunday is turning into New Year's Eve II. In Cleveland, the number of car crashes doubles from an average day, and that just one of the cities that's beefing up traffic patrols.. . . There will be a luger from India at the Winter Olympics but, alas, no Jamaican bobsledders, because they failed to qualify. Perhaps too much Rasta pasta is too blame.

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About Reid and Mike

Reid Cherner has been with USA TODAY since 1982 and written Game On! since March 2008.

He has covered everything from high schools to horse racing to the college and the pros. The only thing he likes more than his own voice is the sound of readers telling him when he's right and wrong.

Michael Hiestand has covered sports media and marketing for USA TODAY, tackling the sports biz ranging from what's behind mega-events such as the Olympics and Super Bowl to the sometimes-hidden numbers behind the sports world's bottom line.